Report prepared by Alex Van Beveren and Tommaso Napoli

About WFAO

The World Federation of Amateur Orchestras was founded in 1997 in Kanazawa, Japan. Founder and driving force behind WFAO was the late Mr. Motoyasu Morishita, who expanded the mission of the previously formed World Youth Orchestra Conference. The WYOC was founded in 1991 by the Japanese Amateur Orchestra federation (JAO), to promote global youth orchestra initiatives. WFAO expanded this mission to include both youth and adult amateur orchestras.

Mr. Morishita’s infectious enthusiasm and unrelenting energy led to annual gatherings, where musicians from all over the world came together to make music. Highlights include the World Amateur Orchestra at Expo 2005 in Nagoya and Expo 2010 in Shanghai, as well as the WFAO Orchestra Festival in Shizuoka in 2012.

Mr. Morishita was first succeeded by Richard Chester in 2009, and then by David Ramael in 2011 at the Glasgow General Assembly. At that same meeting WFAO adopted new bylaws, in line with the truly international character of the organization.

About the 2015 World Amateur Orchestra Festival

At the 2013 WFAO General Assembly in Shizuoka, Tommaso Napoli of AIMA and ContrArco in Italy, accepted to organize – for the first time in Europe – a WFAO Amateur Orchestra Festival, to be held in Milan at the occasion of the 2015 World Expo. WFAO and AIMA found willing partners in the prestigious MiTo Settembre Musica Festival and the Conservatorio di Musica “G. Verdi,” who offered their full support to promote WFAO’s festival.

More than 90 amateur musicians from 17 different nationalities and 5 continents assembled in Milan to perform under the baton of conductors Joe Yamaji from Japan and Mario Gioventù from Italy, with Elena Ponzoni as concertmaster. During 4 days of rehearsals and social gatherings all participants became acquainted with each other and new international friendships were born. Playing the final concert at the legendary Conservatorio di Musica “G. Verdi” proved to be the perfect conclusion to a rewarding week. Italian soprano Federica Vitali opened the concert with arias by Puccini, followed by Sibelius’ Symphony No

2.The applause at the end of the concert showed how much the audience appreciated the hard work and artistry put forth by everyone on stage.

Furthermore, the World Amateur Orchestra Festival became the launching platform for a new Italian amateur orchestras association, called FedIOrAm – Italian Federation of Amateur Orchestras. As of 2016 FedIOrAm will replace AIMA as the official representative for amateur musical activities in Italy. This new association starts with four orchestras as founding members, all of whom participated in the WFAO festival: OSAI (Orchestra Sinfonica Amatoriale Italiana, from Cuneo), Terrazzo Musicale (from Brescia), Cremaggiore (from Cremona), and ContrArco (from Milano).

FedIOrAm already has established contacts with other amateur orchestra associations in Italy. Soon they will increase their recruitment efforts in order to support – once a year and in partnership with EoFed (European Federation of Amateur Orchestras) – an Italian amateur orchestra festival, to be held yearly in a different city.

Additional WFAO events

WFAO’s aim is not only to organize international amateur orchestra festivals but also to promote international exchanges and to support amateur music-making worldwide. Concurrent with the festival in Milan, two WFAO members – the Nepalese Crescendo Orchestra and the Norwegian Youth Orchestra Association – had a very successful workshop in Kathmandu, with a final concert broadcasted on the National News Channel.

Conclusion

Both events – in Milan and Kathmandu – prove the necessity of continuing to develop the work which started under Mr. Morishita’s guidance in Japan for the benefit of amateur musicians worldwide. The World Federation of Amateur Orchestras therefor would welcome to collaborate with IMC members on future projects that benefit amateur music making.

• 

• 

• 

•